Through its Criminal Justice Act (CJA) Plan, the Court's 2022 CJA Application Process is open. Dependent on experience, attorneys not currently on the CJA Panel, who wish to serve as appointed contract counsel on criminal cases, may apply to be members of the CJA Panel or the CJA Mentee Panel. The application and more information on CJA related processes is located on the Court's website at https://www.moed.uscourts.gov/criminal-justice-act-cja.

The Eagleton Courthouse has a new temporary Building Entry Order requiring masks in common areas. The temporary Order, put into effect based on local high transmission rates, is effective Wednesday, June 8 and lasts through Friday, June 17 at which point the prior mask-optional Order will again be in effect. Each Agency may continue to set masking rules in its own space.

BAMSL’s 2021-22 President Bob Tomaso, with approval from the BAMSL Executive Committee and the BAMSL Board of Governors, announced at the 2022 Law Day celebration that the annual Distinguished Lawyer Award will be renamed the Hon. E. Richard Webber Distinguished Lawyer Award.

On April 3, 2015, Anthony Ray Hinton was freed from prison, having spent 30 years on death row for murders he did not commit. The two victims were managers of two fast food restaurants in Birmingham, Ala., and were murdered during the course of robberies. There were no eyewitnesses to the murders. There was no fingerprint evidence. A third robbery occurred, and the manager identified Mr. Hinton in a lineup, even though during the time of that crime, Mr. Hinton was at work.

The Bar Association of Metropolitan St. Louis (BAMSL) hosts its annual Law Day and Awards Ceremony from 11 a.m.-1:30 p.m. on Mon., May 2 at the Ritz-Carlton St. Louis in Clayton, Mo.

BAMSL is honored to have as its keynote speaker former U.S. Sen. Claire McCaskill. BAMSL also will celebrate an important milestone in the organization’s history as the first millennial president, Anne-Marie Brockland, will be sworn in.

BAMSL has now begun sending communication emails (e.g., the weekly LegalPulseSTL) from news.bamsl.org, and transactional emails (e.g., registration confirmations and payment receipts) will begin sending from receipts.bamsl.org.

The Bar Association of Metropolitan St. Louis (BAMSL) is pleased to announce the addition of Shawn Davis as its new Digital Marketing Specialist as of April 4, 2022.

When the BAMSL staff informed me that I could write a stream of consciousness wrap-up article for my final President's column, I asked how that would be any different from the other columns I have written? Well, this column is supposed to highlight accomplishments of our one-year tenure. Hence, it should be a very brief column.

The Saint Louis Bar Foundation, the charitable arm of The Bar Association of Metropolitan St. Louis (BAMSL), has announced it will provide grant funding to organizations that advance or promote the rule of law. The Foundation will consider grant applications until July 1, 2022, for up to $5,000 for innovative projects that address  needs in the metropolitan St. Louis region.

Thanks to the incredible generosity of the law firm Dowd Bennett LLP, $100,000 was distributed during the first quarter of 2022 to several area organizations that feed the hungry. Dowd Bennett donated the funds to The Bar Association of Metropolitan St. Louis’ (BAMSL) and the Saint Louis Bar Foundation’s St. Louis Attorneys Against Hunger (STLAAH) initiative.